3 Days
by MagCat
Summary: AU: Paul Andreas took his life for granted; everything he had he deserved.  Then, when one night sends his life into chaos, will he use the chance given to him to change it for the better?
1. Prologue

**Summary:** AU: Paul Andreas took his life for granted; everything he had he deserved. Then, when one night sends his life into chaos, will he use the chance given to him to change it for the better?

**Disclaimer: **As soon as I get my certificate of ownership saying I own _Pokémon_ then I'll tell you, but as of now it's not mine!

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

(…): Extra facts about the story/inner thoughts

**A/N Notes: **Hello! So, I didn't do a holiday fic. last year due to a lack of inspiration. This year, though, this story has been on my mind for a few weeks. This is actually focused on Paul and Dawn instead of my usual characters Gary and Misty, though they will appear. This story was inspired by a movie I saw on ABC Family years ago during the Christmas season called "Three Days", and from that I drew a lot of inspiration with changes made, of course. It's divided into four parts due to the length. Enjoy and Happy (Summer) Holidays to everyone from MagCat!

_**Three Days**_

**Chapter One:**_**Prologue**_

_**Town Square, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 24 December 2010, 10:00 AM**_

"Give to the poor! Help those in need!" Dawn Andreas smiled gently as she dug in her purse and pulled out a handful of crisp Pokédollars and placed them in the Veilstone City Orphanage's red bucket. Each year, the orphanage workers held fundraisers to accrue the funds needed to keep the institution running for the winter. Granted, the town's mayor and council did donate money to the cause, but outside funds were always needed.

"Thank you, and Arceus bless you," came the grateful reply from an older gentleman dressed as Santa Claus. The little girl that peeked out from behind the Christmas feature smiled as well. Giggling, she ducked back behind her red-clad protector, waving shyly at the famous Coordinator.

"It's not a problem," Dawn replied as she bent down and patted the girl on her head, smiling at the stream of giggles that resulted. "Merry Christmas!" As she left the two, she pulled her faux-fur clad jacket closer, snuggling down inside its warmth. Piplup, who reveled in the cold weather chirped from his position on her head.

"I'm not sure when he's coming home," Dawn replied sadly the smile abruptly falling off her face. "He called a few nights ago to say that he was needed in Canalave City some more to deal with an issue on Iron Island." In the years since Ash had beat Paul in the Lily of the Valley Conference, the Veilstone City native had joined the G-Men, which had extended its reach from Kanto and Johto to both Hoenn and Sinnoh. Alongside Barry, Paul was one of the top trainers in the G-Men organization, with only Lance and, of course, Ash better than him as an agent.

Piplup chirped again and a bitter laugh emanated from Dawn. "Yeah. He'll probably miss Christmas again." The Coordinator had continued her chosen path and was now on par with May, Drew, Zoey and Kenny as the top Pokémon Coordinators in their generation, and in the Sinnoh Region, one of the best. Her Pokémon collection had expanded to include more types and more strategies for winning performances, though at the moment she was on a break, seeing how it was Christmas.

"I suppose we could get a tree," Dawn commented after a moment of silence, smiling when Piplup chirped in happiness. "Yeah, let's do that. Even if he won't be home again, that doesn't mean that we can't have some fun!"

After a few minutes, the two arrived at a small flower shop which also sold pine trees during the holiday season. Looking around, Dawn found a small tree in a corner, seemingly forgotten and fell in love with it. Purchasing it, she released her Mamoswine to take the tree back to her house, and thanking the employees set off.

_**Iron-Edge Hotel, Canalave City, Sinnoh Region, 24 December 2010, 12:30 PM**_

"Damn it," Paul muttered as he threw his bag down on a hotel bed in the room he shared with his partner Barry Rowan (yes, that Rowan. Barry was Professor Rowan's hyper nephew). "Everyone is acting like chickens with their heads cut off. No one knows what someone else is doing."

"It's not that bad, Paul," Barry shot back ducking past his partner to leap onto the other bed. "We got some good information, enough to go after that Team Galactic-wannabe group later."

"Right," Paul snorted, "_Showdown at the entrance to the Iron Island Ruins, 4:00 PM_. That's definitely enough information to get an arrest for these idiots."

Barry glared at his once-hero (that notion had been soundly smashed years ago, and despite the fact that they were partners it had yet to rear its head again) and muttered, "You just don't want to be here."

"Duh. These idiots couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag." Paul stalked over to the lone desk in the room, having retrieved his laptop from his bag a few minutes previous. Flipping it open, he turned it on and a few seconds later the clacking of keys was heard, with Barry watching from his position on the bed.

"We checking in?" Barry asked and a grunt from the purple-haired trainer was his response. "Guess that's a yes."

_"What do you have to report?"_ A faintly blurred image appeared on the screen, a shock of flame-red hair visible. Lance Thorn, head and founder of the G-Men answered the call personally, knowing just how high a priority this case was.

"Information that a showdown is going to take place on Iron Island at the Ruins uncovered during Team Galactic's reign." Paul and Barry watched their commander's face for any sign of approval or disapproval.

_"Very good. You are going to ambush them, correct?"_

"Correct." Lance nodded in thought before smirking.

_"Have fun, and do try to be gentle."_ It was well known to the G-Men that Lance only said that phrase when he had an inkling that something suspicious was going on behind the scenes of a case. Paul and Barry had already suspected this; as to what they were going to do next, well, that was only known to them.

"Understood. Andreas and Rowan out." Paul logged off the secure connection and turned to his partner. "Suppose we have to get ready to go out there and wait." He sighed in annoyance as he shut down his laptop. "This is going to be boring."

Barry nodded in agreement as he rooted around in his bag for his communication gear. After a moment, his head popped back up and, frowning, asked, "How's Dawn?"

Paul tensed having known for a few years now that the blonde-haired trainer had had a major crush on his wife and that they had, in fact, dated for a while. It still irritated him. "Fine."

"Come on, how is she really?" Paul shot a dark glare at the Twinleaf Town native which was interpreted accurately. "Hey man, c'mon! I'm asking as a concerned friend, not as a romantic interest!"

"She's fine." Paul connected his wireless microphone to the inside of his black sweater, tugging on it to make sure that it stayed in place. "Why?"

"Well, I mean, it's Christmas, yeah?" At Paul's jerky nod, Barry continued, "I was just curious how she's taking you being away all the time now on official G-Men business."

"She understands," was the clipped reply. Barry rolled his eyes heavenward before continuing his interrogation.

"What'd you get her?"

"For what?" Paul asked clipping his clear plastic headset to his ear, making sure that the wire blended in with his skin and hair.

Barry snorted. "Christmas, duh. I know that you're not big on holidays, Paul, but come on. Christmas is kinda special, y'know?"

"So?" Paul was beginning to get irritated; just what was this guy implying?

"So, did you get Dawn something nice for Christmas or what?" Barry was on the verge of pulling at his hair; why in the hell was this guy so obtuse? What did Dawn see in him? There had to be _something_ there, or else she wouldn't have married him.

"Something," Paul shot back vaguely as he shucked on his black trench coat. "Let's go. Maybe we can get this done early and go home."

"Sure." Barry put on his own coat and, grabbing his bag ran after his partner. 'You'd better have gotten her something damn spectacular, Paul. She needs some cheering up, and knowing that you care'll do the trick.'

_**Andreas Residence, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 24 December 2010, 3:00 PM**_

"There." Dawn placed the final ornament on the small Christmas tree she'd purchased earlier in the day and stepped back to admire her work. Though it barely stood at six feet, it was tall compared to Dawn's five-foot-four frame. Covered in LED and bubble lights, it presented a charming sight, as the multi-colored hues bounced off the living room walls. Ornaments of all kinds hung off the evergreen boughs, including ones from family and friends, and one from Dawn's father before he was killed in a construction accident when she was merely a year old. Garland beads were draped from top to bottom, glittering from the tree's lights.

"All that's left is the star," Dawn mused reaching over to the last box and digging through the tissue paper to pull out a simple star with six multi-colored lights on it, an extension cord tucked underneath. As Dawn examined it, she frowned and turned to the tree. "Maybe I should leave it for him to do…"

Paul had missed the last Christmas, and when informed that he'd missed the star (something he'd claimed as his their first Christmas together as a couple) he'd sulked for a few days straight before relenting. Dawn wasn't overly keen on a repeat performance.

"I'll just leave it here, then." Dawn placed the star back into its box and placed it on the coffee table before beginning to clean up her self-made mess. After a good twenty minutes, the empty ornament and light boxes were tucked beneath the stairs in a cupboard and the blunette was just retrieving a mug of hot chocolate from the microwave when the phone rang. Grinning, Dawn hopped over her Pachirisu (who was intent on chasing her tail for some reason) and grabbed the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

_"Dawn? You there?"_ Dawn grinned at the voice of Maylene Kämpfen, the pink-haired Gym Leader having become a good battle partner and friend since Dawn had moved to Veilstone with Paul.

"What's up?" Dawn leaned against a kitchen counter, having retrieved her hot chocolate.

_"You up for meeting me at the Gym?"_

"Sure. Why?" Dawn was curious, and there were times that this curiosity had gotten her in trouble. As her mom had always told her, "Curiosity killed the Skitty."

_"Well, uh,"_ Maylene's pause got Dawn's attention, causing her to place her mug on the counter. _"Aaron proposed."_

"He didn't?" Dawn was on the verge of jumping up and down for joy; the only factor preventing her from doing so was that Pachirisu had moved so that she was sitting at Dawn's feet, head tilted out of curiosity as to her trainer's sudden surge in emotion.

_"He did."_ There was a definite note of glee in Maylene's voice, and the Coordinator could just imagine that her friend was on the verge of squealing, her Lucario leaning against a side wall huffing in annoyance but a small smirk on his face nevertheless. _"You free or not?"_

"Yeah, of course! I'll be right there!" Dawn ended the conversation and calling for the electric squirrel to follow her ran towards the hall closet, grabbing her backpack with her Pokéballs and a snoozing Piplup, who grumbled about his nap being disturbed. Throwing on her coat and scarf, Dawn bolted out the door, holding it open long enough for Pachirisu to scamper out before closing it and locking it, which was then followed by a full-out sprint to the Veilstone City Gym.

Upon arrival, Dawn flung open the doors, disturbing some of Maylene's students, one dropping a dumbbell on his foot out of pure shock reflex. Dawn shouted out an apology as she ran towards Maylene's private chambers, excitement swirling around her.

"Where is it?" Dawn demanded as soon as she'd flung open the shoji screen leading into her friend's room. Maylene bounced up from her tatami mats, eyes shining.

"Come in! Man, you were fast," Maylene slid the door shut behind her friend and the two Pokémon before pulling off one of her fighting gloves to show off a glimmering engagement ring, a small-cut, pink-tinted diamond surrounded by opals. A silver band completed the piece of jewelry and was small enough that Maylene was still able to fight. Aaron had chosen well.

"Dish!" Dawn demanded and soon enough the two women were giggling over the romantic evening that Maylene's now-fiancé, Elite Four member Aaron Desejo had planned, complete with a dinner at their favorite restaurant then a walk through the Meteor Fields just outside the city limits. The proposal had been short, simple and sweet, which was what both trainers liked, though Aaron had a tendency to ramble on at times, which he'd done last night. Good thing that Maylene found it cute and slightly endearing at times, and last night was no exception.

"That's so romantic!" The two women grinned at each other as Maylene replaced her glove. "So, who else knows?"

"Well, as of now, just you and my few apprentices out front." Maylene motioned with her head to the aforementioned individuals, hidden behind the screens. "Oh, and I think Flint."

Dawn grimaced before stating, "You do know that Flint's like a huge gossip." Maylene sighed in resignation, having come to terms with the afroed Elite Four member's tendency to agree to keep something a secret then turn around and tell it to the next available person. In other words, he was at the top of the Giratina-damned gossip vine.

"Yeah. Aaron and I figure that word'll be out by the end of the day." Both sighed before deciding to put the business of Flint and his gossiping tendencies aside in favor of wedding talks, which included the site, who to invite and so forth. Needless to say, few if any challengers were able to beat Maylene when she was hyped up on utter happiness.

_**Iron Island Ruins, 10 Miles from Canalave City, Sinnoh Region, 24 December 2010, 4:45 PM**_

Luckily for Paul and Barry, the capture of the wannabe-Team Galactic members had been disturbingly easy, consisting of a simple ambush with Aggron and Empoleon, the two half-Steel types making easy work of the wannabes' Shiftry and Ludicolo. The duo's attempts at reviving the crime syndicate had come to a vicious and quick end, much to Lance's satisfaction when the two reported back to him after having tied their victims up and hunted down the explosives placed in the ruins to cause mayhem, disabling them in the process.

_"Excellent work as usual,"_ Lance commented smirking at the picture that Paul had sent him of the beaten-up individuals. _"Make sure to secure the scene entirely and wait until the police arrive; then, you're free to return home. I'll contact you if you're needed."_

"Understood," Barry responded mock-saluting the Dragon-type master while Paul rolled his eyes in disgust.

_"Right."_ Lance raised an eyebrow at the Sinnoh native's gesture, not quite sure what had caused it but sensing that it was best not to ask. _"Thorn out."_ The connection terminated just as the police arrived, Officer Jenny at the head. After the details had been sorted out, statements taken and the culprits loaded in the back of Jenny's patrol boat, the two G-Men were allowed to leave the Ruins.

"Finally," Paul muttered running a hand through his hair, cursing its length and vowing to get it cut as soon as he could. Barry grunted an agreement as he stretched groaning as a particularly tight knot in his left shoulder loosened. "That wasn't even worth us coming out here. Hell, a rookie team could've taken those two down."

"Have to agree with you," Barry responded hand moving over his Pokébelt looking for his Staraptor. Looking sideways at Paul he added, "So. You headed back to Veilstone?"

"Suppose so," Paul answered absently maximizing his Honchkrow's Great Ball. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"Way to sound excited about seeing your wife," Barry muttered petting Staraptor on his beak once the avian had emerged. At Paul's dark glare he returned it with equal force. "For Dialga's sake, Paul, it's Christmas Eve! Go home, spend it with your drop-dead gorgeous wife and don't report back to work until after the New Year!" Barry hopped on Staraptor and took off for Twinleaf Town, hollering back three final words: "I mean it!"

"Idiot," Paul muttered before jumping onto Honchkrow and setting off for Veilstone City. However much he realized it, Barry's words had gotten through to him to an extent, a.k.a. 'Maybe I should spend some more time with Dawn before she kills me.'

'If I listen to him, he'll rub it in my face. If I don't,' Paul winced, 'there's a damn good chance that I'll be killed by an irate wife.'

"Which is the bigger danger?" Paul mused ducking underneath a flock of Starly, sneering as one that thought it was particularly cute tried to get his attention. "Back off!" The Starly screeched in alarm and veered off course, slamming into one of its siblings. Chuckling darkly, Paul sneered once more at the Starly before turning his attention back to his current problem.

"Fine. Whatever." Paul steered Honchkrow over a skyscraper in some no-name town a few miles out from Canalave City, sneering at the rookie trainers as they pointed at his Pokémon. "Amateurs."

It took him a good six and a half hours to make it back to Veilstone City, in part because his Honchkrow had needed an hour of rest somewhere in order to make the trip in such a short period of time and the other because his conscience had decided to eat at him while in Jubilife City for food, so he'd bought Dawn something to show that he actually cared about this stupid holiday.

"Finally." Paul steered his avian towards his brother's breeding center, determined to drop off the Dark and Flying-type for a rest while getting his Electivire, which he'd left there for training. Landing on the grass, Paul hopped off Honchkrow and scratched the bird's neck absently, hoping that the beat of his Pokémon's wings would have woken up his brother, who'd always been a light sleeper. A minute later, a light flicked on inside the house and a bleary-eyed Reggie stepped out, the kitchen light illuminating the back lawn.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" Reggie asked yawning. "It's, like, 11 at night. Shouldn't you be off somewhere near Canalave?"

"Got done early," Paul shrugged recalling Honchkrow and tossing the miniaturized ball at his brother, who barely managed to catch it. "Can I have Electivire?"

"Surely you're not going to go train at this hour?" Reggie's eyebrow went up. "Again, it's 11 at night and your wife, I'm sure, is waiting for you."

"I'm going home as soon as I get Electivire," Paul stressed not giving away any of his other plans. Rolling his eyes, Reggie acquiesced and trotted back inside to retrieve his brother's powerful Electric-type. A few minutes later, he came back out and tossed the Pokéball at his brother, who caught it without a problem.

"Will I be seeing you two tomorrow for dinner?" Reggie asked, hoping that his brother would drop the stupid act about not caring and just join him for Christmas dinner. Dawn was all for the idea; always had been, but it was, ultimately, Paul's choice.

"We'll see," Paul tossed over his shoulder as he walked towards his house ignoring the snow that covered the ground. Reggie sighed, wondering when his brother would grow up and start acting his age of 21 instead of his shoe size of eleven.

_**Andreas Residence, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 24 December 2010, 11:00 PM**_

Paul unlocked the front door and, closing it gently tossed his keys in the basket situated on a small table just for this purpose. Sighing in relief to be home and not out on the field, he peeled off his trench coat and hung it to dry, tossing his bag on the floor. As he leaned down to take off his boats, a sound reached his ears that caused him to tense.

"There you are." Glancing up, Paul winced at the sight of his irate wife, who was tapping a boot-clad foot on the floor.

"Uh, Merry Christmas?" Paul tried standing up so that he had a height advantage. Oddly enough, though, that didn't make him feel like he had enough of an advantage over Dawn.

"No phone call, no text, no nothing! I didn't even know when you were coming home!" Dawn attacked instantly, pinning Paul against a rock and a hard place. Temper spiking, Paul retaliated.

"You are not my keeper! I don't have to report everything to you!"

"I am your wife!" Dawn brandished the wedding and engagement rings that she'd worn for the past three years. "I understand that your work as a G-Man is important; hell, if I could I'd join you! But the least you could do is call and tell me what's going on!"

"I did! I called to let you know about my being needed in Canalave for an assignment!"

"Yeah, _ three days ago_." Paul winced. Oh yeah, _that_ was that something that had niggled on his mind and warned him that he'd forgotten something.

"Tough assignment," Paul bluffed hoping she'd fall for it. At her narrowed eyes he knew that the attempt had failed.

"Liar," Dawn hissed getting into Paul's face, a feat considering that he was taller than her by a good six inches. "I am sick and tired of your lies, Paul. What is it, some pretty thing on the side?"

Paul narrowed his eyes and glared at Dawn, who, interestingly enough, was not standing down. "How dare you accuse me of something like that?"

"It's true, right? I mean, I get that you're busy and all that, but hell, _Barry_ of all people stops by every so often when you guys are off duty to visit while you stay away as much as you can. What is wrong with me?"

Paul glanced away for a moment, whispering, "Nothing" before catching himself and turning back to his wife, reaching out an arm to try to grab her shoulder, to communicate his emotions through touch. "There's nothing wrong with you. I just,"

"You know what, forget it. I'm going to stay with Maylene." Dawn ducked beneath Paul's outstretched arm and, grabbing her coat and scarf flew out the door, a teardrop hitting the floor in her wake. Shocked, Paul didn't move for a moment before realizing exactly what had just happened. Cursing, he grabbed his trench coat and ran out after her, incensed when he realized that she'd gotten a severe head start on him.

"Dawn, come back! I'msorry!" Paul's rushed apology fell on insensitive ears, as the city he'd grown up in had seemingly abandoned him, not offering him his wife as easily as he'd hoped.

Rushing towards the Veilstone City Gym, he hurried his pace, hoping that he'd be able to catch her before she made it to the Gym and Maylene's sanctuary. The Gym Leader wasn't overly fond of him at the moment as he'd unknowingly insulted her boyfriend and she was still holding a grudge against his slip of tongue.

"Dawn!" The streetlights flashed overhead, illuminating a trail through the freshly fallen snow, which if he'd paid any attention seemed to be getting lighter the closer to the Gym he got. "Dawn, I'msorry, okay? You're right! I'm an ass and you deserve better!" Still, no sign of the blunette materialized; well, beyond faint footprints that were quickly fading on the cobbled sidewalks.

Just as Paul rounded the final corner that lay near the Gym, the screeching of tires echoed throughout the eerily silent city. 'What the hell?'

A car was stopped in the middle of the road, its engine smoking as the driver got out and began to stumble around, obviously drunk. Deciding that his wife was probably at the Gym in no mood to talk to him, and figuring that he'd attempt to talk her down in the morning, Paul pulled out his G-Man badge (he always had it on him in case something like this materialized) and running over to the drunkard demanded an explanation. What he heard froze his heart into ice.

"Man, she, she just ran, *_hiccup_*, inta the mid, the mid, the street an' I, oh man, *_hiccup_*, I couldn't stop in time." The man swayed before falling to his knees and vomiting the remnants of his stomach on the cobblestone street. Not caring that his shoes had been caught in the mess Paul ran to the front of the car and felt his heart stop.

"No." Falling to his knees, Paul reached out and gently moved a strand of blue hair out of Dawn's face, tucking it behind her ear. His hand came away covered in blood. "No!"

_**Veilstone General, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 25 December 2010, 1:45 AM**_

_"We're sorry, Mr. Andreas, but there was nothing we could do. The internal bleeding was too much to repair and her brain hemorrhaged as we were trying to repair it. We are so sorry for your loss."_

"Fat lot of good condolences'll do," Paul muttered angrily punching a nearby wall hard enough for his knuckles to begin bleeding. Ignoring the cry of alarm from the on-duty nurse, Paul stalked out of the morgue, where he'd had to identify his wife's cold corpse as the once alive incarnation of sunshine in his life.

"Damn bleeding heart," Paul snarled as he stormed out of the hospital, his mind whirling. 'Why? Why did this happen? She didn't deserve it; hell, if anyone deserved to die it should've been someone else, but no way in Giratina's hell should it have been her.'

Paul suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, ignoring the snowflakes alighting on his head. "Why?" Leaning forward so that his bangs covered his eyes he began to move slowly back hom – no, to the _house_ where his wife had lived. She was right. He'd never really lived there, not once he'd been accepted into the G-Men. He'd thought that she'd understand how important this was to him, how he felt it necessary to make amends for all that he'd done in the past (some things even Reggie didn't know about) and she had… but he'd taken her for granted. Arceus above, if only he had another chance…

He snorted as he came upon the door to the house. Digging around for his keys, he groaned when he realized they were still inside… and he was sure that Dawn hadn't thought to bring hers either. "Damn it, this is just what I need, and the Pokémon are inside." That was another thought that caused his head to hurt. "Damn it, what are they going to think?"

Slamming his head against the door, Paul hissed in pain at his body's suggestion that perhaps that wasn't the best choice. Turning around, his eyes caught sight of a locksmith shop that was open.

"Perfect," the purple-haired trainer murmured trotting across the street to arrive at the shop. Entering, a blast of heat greeted him, eliciting a small sigh of relief as his eyes searched for a worker. After a minute, a young man walked out of the back room, golden eyes alighting on the trainer.

"What can I do for you?" the man asked, brushing a strand of eerily pale blonde hair out of his eyes.

"I, uh, locked myself out of my house." Paul pointed across the street at the house that had lights lit on the outside and inside. The worker whistled.

"Tough luck mate." He picked up a tool kit from behind him and placed it on the counter. "Kind of lock?" As the two men worked on finding a skeleton key that would allow Paul access to his house the worker noticed the young man's haunted expression. "If you don't mind me askin', what's on your mind?"

Paul paused in his perusal of skeleton keys. Should he tell someone what had just happened? After a moment, he decided why the hell not; news was going to spread all over Sinnoh by tomorrow anyway.

"I just lost my wife," he whispered voice low in case someone else entered. "She was hit by a drunk driver."

The worker winced in sympathy as he silently cheered at finding the correct key. "That's harsh, and on Christmas Eve? Damn."

"Tell me about it." Paul reached for the key when it was suddenly pulled back. Frowning, he reached for it again only to be denied. "Am I missing something here?"

"Do you regret it?" The worker's expression had hardened his eyes narrowed to icy chips.

Paul frowned. "Regret what?"

"What you did to Dawn." The worker ignored Paul's flabbergasted expression at his knowing his deceased wife's name and continued, "Do you regret arguing with her, not spending enough time with her, not showing her how damn much she means to you?"

Paul didn't even hesitate (a surprising fact he'd later discover) and answered, "Absolutely."

The worker smiled, but it was one filled with ice and unfulfilled promises. "Perfect." Tapping his fingers in a pattern on the counter, he stated, "Paul Andreas, Arceus himself demanded that I do this, despite my misgivings. How would you like a second chance?"

Paul's mind was caught up on the words "Arceus himself demanded" for a moment before realizing that he had been asked a question. "Second chance for what?"

"To show Dawn that you love her." The worker was looking at Paul again, but this time his breath hitched as the image morphed to that of Celebi, the Time Guardian's eyes looking into his questioningly.

"Anything. I'd do anything." Paul held his breath, hoping that that was the right answer. If he had a chance to save her… to do _something_ to prove to her that he loved her enough to prevent her death… he'd take it.

"Correct answer." Celebi held out the skeleton key, which now glowed a dim blue. "You will have three days to prove to Dawn that you love her. Use them wisely." Moving suddenly, Celebi slapped the key into Paul's outstretched palm and the last thing the G-Man saw was a flash of green and silver, followed by darkness.


	2. Day One

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

(…): Extra facts about the story/inner thoughts

**A/N Notes: **Graduate school is a pain in the ass, and is making writing and updating very difficult. Thesis is not helping either… Anyway. As mentioned earlier, the story's divided up into the days that Paul will be experiencing, hence the chapter titles. Enjoy!

**Chapter 2:**_**Day One**_

_**Room #43, Pokémon Center, Eterna City, Sinnoh Region, 21 December 2010, 11:45 PM**_

Paul's eyes snapped open and his movements, jerky as they were caused him to fall out of the single bed, covers wrapped around his frame awkwardly. Barry, from the other side of the room grunted and turned in his sleep, light snores soon overtaking the silence.

'What, what the hell?' Paul thought as he untangled himself, cursing at his clumsiness, an uncommon action. Glancing around, he was struck with the sense that he'd been in this exact room before; the painting of a Gallade and Gardevoir in a meadow met his eyes, as did the slightly dented clock, which took up a spot of honor above the sole desk. Next to his bed was a nightstand, a Pokébelt with eight slots reclining silently, eight types of Pokéballs resting in their place. Clothes were folded neatly on a chair a few feet away (Barry's were strewn all over the place without a care in the world), and his backpack hung over said chair as well, the edge of his laptop sticking out.

'Why is this so familiar?' Paul thought for a moment before his mind caught up with the present and his eyes widened. 'Dawn, the accident, that ass of a driver… her death. The locksmith, no, _Celebi_… was it true?' Scrambling for his backpack he dug around inside, searching desperately for his Pokégear, breathing a sigh of relief as he found it. Flipping it open, he ignored the flashing signal stating that he had five Voicemails and hit the button that would open his calendar. His breath caught.

'December 21, 2010… so it was true. I'm in the past. That means that Dawn… she's alive.' His heart began to beat furiously. 'She's alive, sleeping back in Veilstone, _safe_.' Snapping the Pokégear closed he sat at the edge of his bed, burying his face in his hands. His shoulders silently shook. 'She's _safe._'

After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Paul breathed deeply and began thinking. 'Okay, so I'm in the past. I have three days to prove that I love her… but if I come out and tell her what's going on she'll think I'm insane.' He grimaced. 'Yeah, not the way to go.' His mind willingly supplied him with memories of an incident when Gary Oak, while celebrating Ash Ketchum's birthday had embarrassed his then-girlfriend Misty Waterflower and, when confronted had tried to blame it on the alcohol and the insanity that resulted from it. Needless to say, Misty hadn't been pleased, and to this day Gary willingly abstained from any kind of alcohol unless forced; no way was he going to get near it to get the bright idea to use it as an excuse for some action of his ever again.

He snorted. 'Okay, I've got three damn days, at least according to Celebi. That means that I probably should head back to Veilstone and spend them with Dawn.' He suddenly remembered the voicemails he'd glimpsed earlier and, flipping open his Pokégear silently listened, smirking at the ideas that popped into his head.

'Perfect. Let's see… Day One: Arrive home early, head out to the contest in Hearthome that I remember Dawn lamenting that she wished to enter but couldn't get there in time, then dinner at _Chez Plume_. Day Two: Head out to Oak's Christmas Party in Pallet Town that I'm sure she bitched about how we were going to miss it about two weeks ago when the invitation came.' Paul winced; no way was he interested in heading to Oak's thrice-damned Christmas Party (he knew that Oak himself wasn't a big fan; it was his wife who hosted them, and really, on the premise of keeping up old and new friendships… bah humbug!

'Then, hmm, what to do on Day Three?' Paul's mind registered the urgent need to keep Dawn away from Veilstone City on Christmas Eve, despite the fact that he knew she'd be pissed at him. 'I can deal with a pissed-off Dawn as long as she's alive.'

'I'll wing Day Three.' Paul flipped the Pokégear closed once again and, satisfied that he had a plan in place drifted into a light sleep, a smirk gracing his face.

Of course, no one likes to be woken up two hours later by a hyped up, blonde-haired idiot who's tossing paper balls at his face.

"What?" Paul snarled eyes flashing. Barry merely smirked.

"Call for you," he stated nonchalantly looking annoying awake at almost two in the morning.

Growling under his breath, Paul stalked over to his laptop (he could have sworn that it was in his backpack before…) and sat down in the desk chair, arranging his features so that his face held his usual stoic expression. "Andreas."

_"Agent Andreas, Head Commander Thorn has requested that you and Agent Rowan accept the following mission."_ An automated voice reported the case details and Paul realized with a shock that it was the case in Canalave City. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Barry was sulking, sure that he was going to accept it, which meant that he would have to miss yet another Christmas with his father and uncle in Twinleaf. Paul inwardly smirked; maybe he could cause chaos as well as saving his wife.

"Request 45987 for Agents Andreas and Rowan," Paul commanded and he smirked when Barry's jaw dropped.

The automated voice processed the command and responded almost instantly, _"Stored vacation time totaled at 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days."_

"Excellent." Paul paused to gather his words then plowed ahead, "Please give our regards to Head Commander Thorn upon informing him that we refuse this mission in favor of taking some of our stored vacation time for time with our families and friends." He stopped to allow the computer program to record his words before continuing, "We recommend that Agents Ikushi and Izumi be sent in our stead for practical experience and the fact that based upon current evidence this mission is below us."

'There,' Paul thought smugly. 'That should convince Thorn that we're only refusing because this mission is below us, and Arceus above it really is… not that anyone but me knows this.'

There was no reply from the computer for a moment, during which Paul was positive Barry was praying for the request to be accepted. He really, _really_ did not want to go to Canalave City over Christmas.

_"Processing… Head Commander Thorn has logged onto the network. Processing… Head Commander Thorn is contemplating request… has accepted reasoning and has asked to talk with Agents Andreas and Rowan."_ Paul cursed in his head at this development; damn it, why couldn't he accept it without question?

Soon enough, a blurred image of Head Commander Lance Thorn appeared onscreen, looking a bit too awake for Paul's liking (then again, Kanto _was_ ahead of Sinnoh by at least five hours, placing Thorn at the nice time of seven in the morning, not two). _"Paul, Barry. Mind telling me in your own words why you've refused a mission?"_ The former Champion of the Kanto and Johto Leagues sounded and looked amused that his two best agents (well, two of his best agents, as Ash had more field experience and had been operating incognito since his time in Johto years ago) had requested time off, especially Paul, who never asked for anything.

"I just feel like I need a break, Commander," Paul answered truthfully crossing his arms across his chest. "Not to mention that I'm needed back in Veilstone; my brother has called and requested my aid." Barry was mouthing something about how he was sure Reggie hadn't called, and if he had, why hadn't he heard Paul bitching about him while on their last mission, which had ended a mere twenty-four hours before.

Lance considered this before nodding and responding, _"Very well. You two are awarded two weeks of vacation time during which you shall only be contacted in case of global meltdown."_ He smirked before adding, _"In addition, you must attend the party in Pallet Town, Kanto Region as a consequence of refusing this mission. Capice?"_

Paul growled before curtly nodding, Barry copying him. 'Perfect. This is the perfect excuse to attend Oak's damn party without raising Dawn's suspicions.'

Lance raised an eyebrow at Paul's agreement and debated on whether or not to ask him why (for that matter, Barry did as well) before shrugging and ending his conversation with the two agents. _"You know the rules for attendance, so be on your best behavior."_ The Dragon Master smirked before nodding and signing off.

As Paul shut the laptop down, he knew that Barry was wondering just what the hell was wrong with him.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Barry demanded and Paul gave himself a point. "Since when have you turned down a mission, and especially on a holiday that you yourself have proclaimed is stupid?"

Paul sighed. "Look. It's not my choice, okay? Reggie needs me home, and in case you're wondering when he contacted me there was a text about two hours ago that was damn urgent. I told him that I'd fly back early in the morning, which is why I had to turn down the mission."

Barry, though, was like a Snubbull with a bone; he wouldn't give up. "Ok, but really, what's the reason? When Reggie contacted you about a trainer's out-of-control Shiftry and Bronzong, you told him that he could handle it. What's different now?"

Paul inwardly cringed. Damn, he had said that, hadn't he? 'Think fast… ah.'

"He said something about a herd of Tauros that aren't behaving well, and the trainer's denying all accusations that he's deliberately provoking them into damaging the business even though Reggie's got evidence." Barry's face wasn't as accusative anymore, but Paul knew that he wasn't convinced. "Look, if I get Reggie to talk to you, would that get you off my back?"

"Yeah. I guess," Barry replied and Paul snorted not particularly pleased that his usually nonchalant and hyper partner was all of a sudden too damn curious for his own good.

"Fine. Call about noon tomorrow and you'll get him. That's when he's home from his round of errands." Barry slowly nodded as he watched his partner stalk back to bed and set his alarm. "I'm leaving in about two hours, so I'll be gone when you wake up. Good night."

As Paul drifted off to sleep, pleased that phase one was successful he gritted his teeth when Barry cheekily amended his previous statement. "You mean good morning." He chucked a pillow at him.

_**En Route to Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 22 December 2010, 7:30 AM**_

As Paul and Honchkrow flew over Hearthome City, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder. 'She's alive, safe, and if I can get there and back in time, she'll be here to register by 10 AM. She'll have fun, I'll be there in the audience cheering her on and that alone should mean something considering how I never come to these things voluntarily.'

Grimacing at the large crowds he was going to be forced to wade through to even find a decent seat in the Hearthome Contest Hall he continually reassured himself that he was doing the right thing. 'This is definitely a good sign, a good start.'

As Honchkrow cleared the city limits, Paul's eyes narrowed as he passed over the Solaceon Town Ruins. 'Almost there… why the hell am I so anxious to see with my own two eyes that she's okay?'

After another half-hour's worth of travel, a tired Honchkrow gently touched down on the back lawn of Reggie's Breeding Center. Looking around, Paul couldn't help but shiver at the fact that he had unconsciously landed where he had that time he'd come back from Canalave City… damn, why the hell had he done that?

Recalling his exhausted avian, Paul scoffed at the pair of Nidoran nuzzling each other a few feet away from him. "Rookie trainer's latest acquisitions, no doubt."

"Reg, you here?" Paul called not registering that he'd used a nickname for his brother that had rested in storage for years. A few minutes later, a curious Reggie poked his head out from a glass greenhouse, where various Grass-types made their (temporary) homes.

"'Reg'? Haven't heard that in a long time," Reggie commented lightly smiling at his younger brother. "Is there some occasion I forgot about?"

Paul cursed his absentmindedness before shooting back, "Slip of the tongue." Tossing Honchkrow's Pokéball at his brother he continued, "I need both Staraptor and Pidgeot, stat."

Reggie caught the ball easily and motioned for his brother to follow him. "Is there a reason? I thought that you and Barry weren't done with your mission until tomorrow."

"Caught the thieves early through their own stupidity." Paul grabbed an apple from a basket on the table and, biting into it continued, "Got vacation time from Thorn until the New Year as long as we attend Oak's party."

Reggie smirked as he withdrew his brother's other two Flying-types. He knew that Paul was likely cursing Lance Thorn's name for forcing the party onto him. "I see." Handing the balls over, he tilted his head and asked, "Any reason that you need both Pidgeot and Staraptor?"

Paul stared before scoffing and replying, "Dawn wants to attend some stupid contest in Hearthome."

"You're going?" Reggie's raised eyebrow gave away his thoughts on this subject.

Paul snorted. "Not like I have a choice. Blackmail." With that, Paul tossed the apple core into the garbage and, walking back outside lifted a hand in farewell, not bothering to catch nor answer Reggie's last minute question as to whether or not he and Dawn were coming for Christmas dinner.

_**Andreas Residence, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 22 December 2010, 8:20 AM**_

Dawn felt something lightly brush against her face and, reacting as she was wont to burrowed further underneath the covers. A moment of silence was then followed by the sudden intrusion of cold air.

"What the," Dawn began but when she sat up her eyes popped wide open. "Paul!" She leapt at her husband, his arms wrapping around her automatically. "You're home early! Did your mission go well?"

Paul didn't reply instantly, too focused on reassuring himself that his wife was, indeed, alive and in his arms. After a moment, he replied, "Hmph. Idiots made it too easy to catch them. Releasing her he added, "Surprise."

Dawn's grin stretched a mile wide then slightly dimmed as she thought of something. "How long are you here for?"

Paul smirked. "Until after New Years on the condition that I go to Oak's party tomorrow." He looked at her sideways. "Interested by chance?" Dawn's face lit up as he suspected it might and before she moved he grabbed her hand and placed something in it.

"What's this?"

"One entrance pass to the Hearthome City Contest, starting today at noon." A crumbled flyer that had been smoothed out as much as possible advertising the annual Christmas-themed contest met Dawn's eyes. His smirk faded into somewhat of a genuine smile as he saw the shocked look on the blunette's face. "If we leave in the next twenty minutes, we'll get there in plenty of time for you to register."

Silence enveloped the couple, with Paul starting to get that niggling worry in his mind, which went something like this: 'Damn it, she doesn't like it… I was prepared to give up my entire day for her, and she's just standing there like some freaking Lombre. What. the. Hell?' Hence, Paul was taken aback when Dawn leapt at him again, knocking him off balance and to the floor.

"Thank you! This is so awesome! Oh man… I'm not even dressed yet! I don't even know what outfit to wear or which Pokémon…" Dawn kissed Paul on the cheek in thanks before diving into her closet and quickly changing into jeans, thick boots and a sweater to travel in, followed by piles of clothes that were thrown onto the bed, with everything ranging from summer dresses to baggy jeans (a look that Paul favored on his petite wife), jean jackets to evening gowns. One of these, a dark red number that was knee-length with a halter top, complete with a pale green, gauze-like shawl caught Dawn's attention.

"This is it!" Quickly wrapping it in plastic, she grabbed a pair of silver flats, the necessary jewelry and accessories before racing out of the bedroom, dress in tow. An amused Paul followed in time to save his wife from beginning to cook.

"Breakfast's on me," he said and Dawn's head shot up, then her eyes narrowed.

"What's going on, Paul? We never eat out anywhere for breakfast, really, at all. Why are you being so nice to me?" She stood on her toes to look into her husband's eyes (despite the passing years, Dawn was still shorter than Paul by a good seven inches).

Paul shrugged, answering, "Waste of time here to actually cook something then rush to Hearthome. Consider it a good luck charm, I guess."

"You, you mean you're actually coming to watch?" Dawn asked incredulously, memories of how she'd had to previously trick Paul to watch her perform flashing across her mind.

Paul shrugged. "Guess so." He stuck his hands into his pockets and continued, "Consider this part of my Christmas gift."

Dawn caught the key word – _part_– and her curiosity spiked. Before she could even phrase a question Paul dumped her bag and all her Pokéballs into her arms. "Paul, I haven't even practiced any maneuvers or combinations!"

Paul fixed the blunette with a blunt stare. "Seriously, that's bugging you? For Palkia's sake, you could perform in jeans and a ragged tee shirt without practicing in six months and win." He turned on his heel and marched towards the front door, grabbing both pairs of keys and his trench coat, which he'd taken off earlier. "You coming or not?"

Dawn didn't even hesitate and, grabbing her pale pink jacket flew out the door, her dress, accessories and bag in her arms. As Paul locked the door he smirked. 'Day One: Progress at 20%.'

**Chez Plume**_**, Hearthome City, Sinnoh Region, 22 December 2010, 8:20 PM**_

That evening, after Dawn had come from behind to win the Christmas-themed contest with her Quilava and Girafarig, she and Paul were eating dinner. Her loyal Pokémon had used a _Psychic _and _Flame Wheel_ combination to knock out her opponent's Bayleef and Raichu without a problem. As promised, Paul had been in the audience, a smirk gracing to his face to anyone else; Dawn, on the other hand, could tell that he was smiling, however small it was. That genuine smile had meant more to her than the red and green ribbon presented to her at the end of the contest.

Paul hadn't stopped the surprises there. A dinner at _Chez Plume_, followed by a quick flight back to Veilstone to pack then catch a eleven o'clock plane from Hearthome to Saffron City in Kanto in preparation for the Oaks' annual Christmas Party in Pallet. Dawn had called Barry to confirm that he was also going to the party (he was, though he had asked her if she thought Paul was behaving oddly; she hadn't known how to respond), and honestly, it was all a bit suspicious.

Dawn picked at her shrimp scampi while Paul attacked his steak. He glanced up and sensed that something was off; his wife wasn't bouncing off the walls as much as usual.

"Something wrong?" Sipping her white wine spritzer, Dawn didn't answer but smiled at him, sending warning bells off in Paul's mind. 'Crap. Now what?'

"Paul, as much as I love that you were here to watch me win a contest that I thought I wouldn't be able to compete in and took me out to this great restaurant," she paused before plowing ahead, "what's wrong? You've never done this much for me in so short a time, and though you act like nothing's wrong, I can tell that something is. What?"

Paul didn't answer for a moment, sipping his red wine to gather his thoughts. Clearing his throat, he answered, "I thought that you deserved something nice for Christmas, considering that I, uh, missed some other holidays because of my work." This was true, as the purple-haired G-Man had missed both Reggie and Maylene's birthdays (Maylene was not only a close friend of Dawn but a pseudo-sister to Reggie), his hometown's birthday celebration where he'd been asked to give a speech, Valentine's Day (he'd gotten a tongue-lashing for that) and a few others. Work was too damn important to miss for some stupid heart-shaped holiday.

Dawn looked at him oddly before shrugging, vowing to get the real truth from him at a later point. As the two finished their dinner, Paul glanced around the restaurant, content with how the day had gone. 'Day One's a success. I think I showed Dawn how much I love her by willingly going to one of her contests and not complaining, I paid for this really nice dinner and have actually conversed with her in words (this was a big achievement to Paul because usually a series of grunts were intermixed with small or monosyllabic sentences in place of the elaborate phrases like he'd used today).' Sipping his red wine, his monologue of thoughts continued, 'I've saved her.'

_"Not bloody likely,"_ came a voice and Paul's eye twitched, the only sign that something weird was going on. Luckily for him, Dawn's attention was drawn by another couple a few tables away, eyes wide as she saw Fantina on a date with a gentleman dressed in blue, the two smiling and speaking softly.

'What the hell?'

_"Arse. Arceus above, you sure are stupid,"_ the voice continued and in his mind's eye Paul saw Celebi in his human disguise, wagging a finger at him. _"You're an idiot, Andreas. Just going to a contest and not complaining to her does not mean that you've proved that you love her. You need to do more."_

'Like what?' Paul mentally snarled eyes flashing. 'We're heading to a party that normally I'd never set five feet within; hell, I'll be _nice_ to Ketchum if that means it makes her happy. Isn't that enough?'

Celebi smirked before shaking his head. _"'Fraid not. You've got a lot to learn if you hope to prove to Dawn that you didn't just marry her because she's the only girl who gave you the time of day."_ Ignoring the snarl of rage sent his way Celebi winked and snapped his fingers, vanishing in a gust of leaf-filled wind.


	3. Day Two

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

(…): Extra facts about the story/inner thoughts

**A/N Notes: **Sorry about the delay; graduate school and thesis work are a pain. Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 3: _Day Two_**

_**En Route to Pallet Town, 20 miles from Viridian City, Kanto**__** Region, 23 December 2010, 11:30 AM**_

Dawn yawned and leaned her body on Paul's, the plum-haired trainer's eyes focused on the landscape outside. The couple had been on the move since boarding a plane in Hearthome City, Sinnoh for Saffron City, Kanto at 11:00 the previous night. From there, it had taken a good six hours to take off, fly through the sky and land in Saffron City, where they'd spent a scant few hours getting some sleep at the Pokémon Center (Nurse Joy hadn't been particularly pleased to admit trainers at five in the morning; Paul didn't particularly care if Joy was upset or not) before checking out and hailing a taxi to take them to Pallet Town. The cab driver had looked at them askance at the demand that he drive them from Saffron to Pallet in two hours, but at the wad of five-dollar Pokébills Paul had tossed to the front of the vehicle he'd grinned and took off.

"How much longer?" Dawn mumbled against the G-Man's shoulder, eyes closed against the invasive sunlight. Paul shrugged for a moment before checking his watch.

"Not sure." Glancing up front, he asked the driver the question he'd just been asked, grimacing when he was told at least another half-hour. Repeating that answer to Dawn, a grumbled curse was her response. He smirked.

Thirty minutes later, Paul tossed a few more crumbled Pokédollars at the cab driver before swinging the two duffels that the Sinnoh couple had brought with them over his shoulder, mentally thanking the weatherman (for once) that he'd been spot on with his weather predictions. The weather was a balmy fifty-five degrees and there was no snow on the ground; compared to Veilstone, this place was a tropical paradise.

"Finally!" Dawn stretched trying to work out the knots that the long car ride had given her.

"Are you sure that it's okay that we're here early?" Paul asked haltingly after a moment, his eyes narrowing to a glower after the sheepish giggle that came from his wife. "You _did_ call, right?"

"I, uh, kinda thought you'd done that," Dawn confessed sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. Ignoring Paul's grunt of disgust she perked up as they saw the Oak Pokémon Laboratory up ahead. "I'm sure Gary and Misty won't mind…"

Of course, Paul griped to himself as he held a struggling little boy by the scruff of his long-sleeved tee-shirt, this was _not_ what he had in mind when he decided to attend the party. Granted, he had to come by order of Thorn, but that wasn't the issue. The problem, as he saw it at the moment, was the kid in his hand… and the fact that he'd tried to kip something off his plate of food, which he'd placed down for _one bloody minute_ to catch the Pokéball the elder Oak had thrown at him, something about a Dragon-type Pokémon…

"Kid, just what do you think you're doing?" Paul asked an eyebrow raised. The orange-haired boy pouted, arms crossed over his chest, not answering. Sighing in annoyance, Paul dropped the kid, who landed on his feet and turned to look at the plum-haired trainer. "Again, what were you doing?"

Scuffing the toe of his sneaker on the carpet, the boy took a breath before responding, "I, uh, was hungry."

"Don't your parents feed you?"

"Well, yeah, but they're so busy right now that it's hard to get their attention." Paul raised an eyebrow, impressed that the six-year old was using such advanced vocabulary. Then again, the son of Gary Oak was bound to be intelligent (Paul actually respected the spiky-haired Kanto native, if only because he was a respected Pokémon Researcher and Paul respected those whom he felt had earned it).

"Seriously?" At the nod he sighed and, glancing around to make sure that Dawn wasn't lurking around a corner or something (she would do that, the minx) he shoved the plate of food at the boy, grimacing at the cheeky grin he received in return. As the boy scampered off, Paul shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered into the back of the laboratory, silently amazed at the sheer size of it. Ten times the size of Reggie's small center and three times the size of Professor Rowan's place in Sandgem Town with five times the acreage, Professor Oak and his grandson had certainly outdone themselves on providing their Pokémon with a rather… _interesting_ environment for when their trainers didn't need them at the moment.

"Paul!" The Veilstone City native turned his head and nodded at Gary Oak, the Researcher coming up to him and shoving his hands in his khaki pockets. "Thanks for coming early." He grimaced and continued, "Don't get me wrong. I love Mist, but when it comes to these parties, well,"

"You feel like hurling?" Paul asked wryly smirking at the Researcher, who smirked in reply. Changing the subject he stated, "Your son was bugging me earlier."

Gary sighed. "Damn it. Misty and I told him to be polite and not do anything like that again. What'd he do?"

"Tried to steal my food then somehow convinced me to give him my plate of food," Paul muttered embarrassed that he'd been outsmarted by a six-year old kid. Granted, the kid was the son of two friends (respected friends, no less), but that didn't mean that he was okay with a six-year old's easy manipulation of him.

Gary frowned then chuckled, the sound carrying over to a herd of Tauros, whose ears pricked up for a moment before returning to their grazing. "Yeah, that's Chris, alright." Slanting a look at his friend, he questioned, "Did he use the 'puppy dog eyes' on you?"

Paul thought back to the incident and grimaced. "Yeah." Gary's chuckle was heard once again, drawing the attention of their wives. Soon enough, Dawn had her arm linked in Paul's, Misty with Gary's.

"What's so funny?" Dawn asked and Paul lowered his head slightly, not willing to outright admit that he'd been outwitted by a six-year old. Gary smirked and nudged his wife, her sea-green eyes meeting his dark sapphire orbs.

"Chris is up to his tricks again," Gary announced and Misty frowned, obviously wanting to hear more about her rogue son. "He convinced Paul here to give him his plate of food."

"No," Dawn gasped looking at her husband incredulously. "You, you were _outwitted_ by a six-year old?"

"It can't be that big of a deal, can it?" Misty asked smirking. Paul seethed. She obviously knew that it was a _huge_ deal to him and was baiting him. Damn her. "I mean, can't big, smart Paul Andreas resist the charm s of my six-year old son?"

Paul's fist clenched and Dawn, concerned, placed her hand on his, sending a shock up Paul's arm. Unnerved (and relieved that the blunette was still physically able to do something like that), Paul slowly unclenched his fist, eyes shooting a quick thanks to his wife, who merely smiled. After a moment of silent communication, Dawn began to giggle, ignoring the sour look sent her way by Paul.

"Sorry, but it's, it's just so funny!" she giggled hand in front of her mouth to prevent the noise from traveling very far. Paul rolled his eyes skyward at his wife's antics, a small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. Gary and Misty moved a few feet away to give the Sinnoh couple some privacy, and both shared a look that spoke volumes.

"Hey! Anyone here?" rang a voice breaking the moment between Paul and Dawn. Upon recognizing the voice, Paul growled low in his throat. Damn, if it wasn't Ketchum…

"Keep your shirt on, Ashy-boy," Gary hollered back laughing at the outraged shout he heard from around the corner. Sure enough, an embarrassed and slightly upset Ash Ketchum soon trotted around the corner, his fiancée Anabel Lunara on his heels, Pikachu cradled in her arms.

"Way to be mature," Gary mocked grinning smugly at the flash of red that crossed Ash's face. Ash grunted and ignored his best friend, eyes catching sight of Paul and Dawn a few feet away.

"Paul, Dawn! I didn't know that you were coming!" Bounding over, he shook Dawn's hand enthusiastically, eliciting a giggle from the blunette. Then, holding out a hand for Paul, the Kanto G-Man waited patiently, much more so than he had in the past, and after what seemed to be an eternity, Paul took the proffered hand, shaking it slowly.

"Managed to wrangle vacation time, and Thorn said that Rowan and I had to show," Paul replied to Ash's earlier question, grimacing at the fact that he was _here_ at this thrice-damned party, even if his personal reason was to both please his wife and save her.

"Nice," Ash commented grinning. After a moment of awkward silence, Ash turned to Misty and began narrating a story from years previous when the two, along with Tracey, had traveled throughout the Orange Archipelago. Gary had moved to the patio door a few feet away, welcoming more guests while keeping an eye on the second traveling trio of Ash's, grimacing at the mention of the numerous suitors his wife had unwittingly enticed throughout her journeys. Paul noted this and snorted wondering why Oak didn't do anything to stop the conversation from progressing further… then noted how much the ginger-haired Gym Leader seemed to enjoy the talk, though she heatedly denied leading anyone on.

'Is that what I need to do?' Paul silently wondered noting the Oak brat running around, chasing after at least five older children, all of them eerily looking like the breeder who'd traveled with Dawn in Sinnoh all those years ago. 'Damn, how did Slate procreate that fast?'

"You five, stop that!" came the demand and Paul's eyes landed on what seemed to be a miniature Brock, complete with a dark green vest over a slightly torn black tank top. "Billy, Tilly, stop leading Chris towards the paddocks." Paul's head spun around and, sure enough, an older girl was dragging a protesting Chris away from the leader of the Tauros herd, the bull's scared face tilted at a slight angle out of curiosity. The five mini-Brocks had vanished.

"Let me go! Dad lets me play with the Tauros all the time!" the brat protested dark sapphire eyes glowering at the girl who was dragging him away from the game. In response, the girl sniffed as if a stink bomb had detonated near her.

"Liar." She dumped the orange-haired brat at the mini-Brock's feet and glared at the latter, fingering a Pokéball. "Forrest, he's yours to deal with 'cause I have to go train Nosepass." Then, she spun around and stomped off, leaving the mini-Brock, er, _Forrest_, clenching his fists. The little Oak brat shot Forrest a raspberry before taking off again, avoiding a last minute swipe by the teen.

"Nyahh!" Chris crowed avoiding a grab from yet another mini-Brock, though this one was shorter than Forrest before running into Paul, who grabbed him, once more, by his tee shirt.

"You're troublesome, you know that?" Paul sneered bringing the brat eye-level with him. Chris crossed his arms and glared, which of course led to a glaring contest. Dawn, noting the event dropped her face into her palm, then went to find Gary or Misty. Not that she thought her husband would hurt Chris, but, well, the parents should deal with the issue.

"Good catch," the teen Brock-lookalike stated walking up to the two glaring males. Reaching out, he grabbed Chris' arm and tugged, Paul releasing him without hesitation. "Brat's got a tendency to escape any babysitter Gary and Misty get him except for his grandfather and aunt." Paul stared.

"You know him?"

The teen raised an eyebrow. "Duh. My brother's good friends with them." He pointed out Brock, who was watching the female with the Nosepass – a sister? – while chatting with Misty about something, eyes alight. Suddenly, Ketchum's fiancée appeared and grabbed the ginger-haired woman by her wrist and dragged her towards the three males, mouth moving a mile a minute. 'Wait… didn't I hear something somewhere that Ketchum's fiancée was semi-mute?'

The kid, now held tightly by his arm cringed at the stormy look that appeared his mother's face, then paled further when he saw his father hurrying towards him, eyes darkened.

"Christopher Samuel!" Misty hissed eyes narrowed. The teen-Brock, er, Forrest, handed the now placid boy to his mother, who gripped him by the shoulder leaning down to talk to him. Gary arrived a moment later and grabbed his son's other shoulder, kneeling so that he was eye-level. Paul watched for a few moments, taken aback when his mind suddenly replaced the image of the Oaks with himself, Dawn and… well, he would've liked to call it some random kid who had attempted to steal from him… but couldn't. The kid was dressed in short blue jeans, a dark orange shirt and had a gold chain of some kind around the neck. Dark blue hair – _the same shade as Dawn's_ – danced in a small breeze and as his eyes subconsciously widened the kid turned slightly to rub at eyes that were _his, __**his eyes**_ and the facial structure was _his_, oh Arceus it was…

"Paul?" Just like that, the image vanished and Paul visibly flinched. Dawn, whose hand had just brushed the edge of his arm, withdrew immediately, believing that her touch had been the cause of Paul's twitch.

"Paul?" she tried again not physically reaching out again, a part of her crushed at the thought that her touch was not welcomed by her husband.

"What?" he answered. Short, sweet and to the point. Yep, nothing _seemed _to be wrong but Dawn knew her husband. Something was bothering him, and she had no clue what it was.

"Paul, Chris has something to say to you," Gary interrupted voice tipped in steel. Glancing over, the Veilstone City native noted that the little brat was subdued eyes narrowed. At Chris' refusal to say anything, Misty nudged him forward.

"Ah, sorry," Chris muttered hands folded across his chest. Paul's eyes narrowed and before he could even contemplate turning down the brat's half-hearted apology something in him… well, for lack of better word, _shifted_.

"Whatever," he muttered instead nodding at the young couple to show that he did, in fact, accept the apology and stalked off towards one of the large lakes on the property. Dawn shot a small reassuring smile at Chris, whose face had fallen at the odd acceptance of his apology.

"Don't worry about him," Dawn chided ruffling Chris' hair, ignoring the pout she got for doing so. "He accepts your apology, Chris, however half-hearted." Looking at Gary and Misty she continued sheepishly, "You know how he gets. He, uh, is kind of upset that he's here at all."

"If he doesn't want to be here, then why," Misty began looking at her husband for a possible answer.

"Uh, I think that Lance kinda forced him into it," Dawn answered finger to her chin. She looked down at a tug on her dark purple, knee-length skirt and met the now curious-eyes of Chris.

"Miss, uh, what's your name again?" Misty sighed while Gary chuckled, eyes having lightened up to their traditional dark sapphire now that the crisis was over.

"Ah, Dawn."

"'Kay. Miss Dawn, how come ya don't have a kid yet?" Chris asked innocently only to receive a tap on the head from his father, who was frowning. However, Dawn, who'd known the grandson of Samuel Oak for years now, could see the mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Ah, well, ah," she began eloquently and praised Dialga when Anabel called motioning her over, a knowing look on her face. Excusing herself, Dawn hurried over to Ash's fiancée leaving a miffed Chris, a chuckling Gary and knowing Misty behind her.

"He's something, hmm?" Anabel asked walking up to Dawn as the Sinnoh Coordinator grinned weakly at her in greeting, nerves still a bit frayed.

"Who, Chris?" At the answering nod, Dawn smiled. "He really is. He's definitely Gary and Misty's kid." She slanted her gaze towards the lilac-haired Frontier Brain and added slyly, "So. When are you and Ash going to tie the knot?"

Anabel flushed but grinned. "Hmm… June."

"This June or sometime in the future?" came the reply and Anabel laughed. It was a known fact among the rather large group of friends that Ash and Anabel had to keep putting off their wedding due to his duties as a G-Man and hers as a Frontier Brain, not to mention numerous requests from Lance to take over the position of Champion of the Kanto League while remaining a G-Man agent, a full-time job in and of itself, plus Scott's continuous requests that he become the eighth Kanto Frontier Brain. Was it really too much to ask for a chance to get married? Yes, it apparently was.

"This June." Anabel's reply was so sure that Dawn had to believe it to be true. Grinning, she proceeded to congratulate the woman, demanding that she be allowed to help with wedding preparations, that she be invited and, oh, how many bridesmaids were allowed?

Anabel giggled and the two women were soon deeply involved in wedding talks, so much so that when Anabel casually brought up the subject of children Dawn was taken aback and didn't how to respond.

Meanwhile, Paul had found a relatively silent spot across the lake and was observing the party with wary eyes. No way was he going to get dragged into conversations that he could easily avoid by isolating himself. Spotting the red shock of hair that could only belong to his boss heading his way, Paul resigned himself to being asked to mingle.

"There you are, Andreas," Lance stated an arm around a woman that Paul had only seen in magazines. Lorelai Prima-Thorn was a stunningly beautiful woman, petite and fierce, her glasses doing nothing but enhancing her beauty. It was obvious why the Dragon Tamer had grabbed her when he could. "Glad to see that you keep your promises."

Paul merely nodded attention focused on the stagnant lake waters. Hearing a chiding sound from behind him, his face flushed and he spun around only to meet the amused face of Lorelai.

"My, my. What a temper," she mocked hand moving to cover her mouth. "You have quite the spirit, you know." Paul scoffed and turned away not quite sure what to make of the statement.

"Paul, as glad as I am to see that you are physically here," Lance threw out glancing across the shore to the gathering of friends, glad to see that regional differences didn't hinder friendships. "Your spirit isn't fully here. Why not go spend time with your friends or, even better, your wife?" With that, he and Lorelai left the plum-haired man to his own thoughts, which were in absolute chaos.

_**Oak Laboratory, Pallet Town, Kanto Region, 23 December 2010, 9:30 PM**_

Later that night, the Oaks had convinced many of their guests to stay the night, so for the adult party-goers, alcohol was in decent number and usage. As a result, Paul had taken great pleasure in setting an intoxicated Barry next to an equally drunk Angie Robinson. Dawn hadn't been particularly pleased with the trick, but after a moment had giggled and helped him arrange the limbs so that it looked as if something had truly taken place rather than just two intoxicated people lying next to each other. Ketchum had stumbled upon them and in a move that had shocked Paul had suggested removing some of their clothes, "for fun" as he'd phrased it. With that done, Paul had smirked and decided that his revenge on his partner was, for the moment, complete.

After the trick had been executed, Dawn had dragged Paul outside and down to the lake, the sound of the water lapping the shore relaxing for her.

"So, did you have fun?" Dawn asked ocean-blue eyes glancing upwards at the stars decorating the Kanto skyline. 'We never see this many stars in Veilstone; too many skyscrapers.'

Paul didn't respond for a moment pondering what exactly to say. 'How do I put this without sounding like a complete sap, not to mention showing Lance that I took his advice. Granted, he's not a mind-reader, but he can tell. Ass.'

"Paul?" Dawn placed a hand on her husband's forearm once more, relieved when he didn't flinch nor shrug it off.

"I – yes, I did," Paul answered slowly his onyx eyes meeting those of his wife's. "Interestingly enough, it was entertaining."

"That's great!" Dawn espoused a grin stretching across her face. Moving closer, she tugged at his arm and, reluctantly, Paul let her drape it over her shoulders, smirking in spite of himself. 'Little minx.'

The two walked in silence for a while before they came upon a stone bench that was placed perfectly on the lake's edge, a willow tree planted behind it. Dawn dragged a semi-protesting Paul over, placing him before moving to take a seat next to him. However, Paul tugged on Dawn's wrist, sending her off-balance and into her husband's lap, the G-Man smirking at the surprised look on her face.

"Paul! What was that for?" Dawn demanded straightening up so that she could look Paul in the eyes but not removing herself from her current seat. She may be happy there, but the reason for said action was still required.

Paul shrugged not verbally responding; however, his initiating an emotional kiss did more than words to explain his actions. As Dawn returned the favor, Paul was taking in every detail about his wife, wondering how in Arceus' name he had not noticed just how damn _beautiful_ she was. From her navy-blue hair (silky, smooth, held up with the same golden-yellow barrettes from when she was ten) to her expressive eyes (and damn but if she didn't know how to use them to her advantage), her hourglass figure to her dedication to Pokémon, she was a goddess. 'Why did it take her dying for me to see this?'

The kiss soon came to an end and Paul rested his forehead against hers, their breath mingling in the chilled air. Their eyes met and Dawn could swear that there was a softness there not usually found. Curious, she opened her mouth to comment on it but Paul took advantage, causing her to forget her question. Tongues mixing and breath mingling, it took all of Paul's self-control not to let it escalate; at least, not outside in the night air and where there was a chance that someone could accidentally interrupt them.

'I'd have to kill them then,' Paul thought grimly a calloused hand slowly moving to grasp a strand of Dawn's hair.

A few minutes later, the two looked at each other and Paul further resolved that he'd do all he could to save his wife. As he hesitatingly returned the sudden hug Dawn had given him, his eyes caught a dim white glow in a thicket further away from the lake's edge. Resolving to check it out as soon as Dawn was asleep, he turned his attention back to his wife and suggested that they go to bed and warm up. Obviously agreeing, Dawn smiled and pulled Paul back with her towards their assigned room on the first floor of the massive Oak mansion.

Three hours later, and wrapped in a black jacket Paul made his way down to the lake and, pushing aside the few branches impeding his path saw Celebi. Paul gritted his teeth. 'Damn it, can't he leave me the hell alone?'

"_Tsk, tsk. Here I was, prepared to give you a final tip to help you out and you insult me."_ Celebi, in his human form put his arms behind his head and moved away, smirking as he heard the grunt of annoyance from the plum-haired man behind him.

'… Sorry.' Celebi glanced over his shoulder and relished the sight of the usually arrogant trainer apologizing for something he had said. _'Perfect.'_

_ "Accepted."_ Moving closer to the man, Celebi leaned closer and sighed. _"Look, Andreas. I'll say that you're doing a… _passable_ job here, but really, where's the romance?"_

Paul's eyes snapped up and glowered at the legendary Pokémon. 'I am _not_ a romantic sap like Ketchum.'

"_Did I say Ash Ketchum's name at all?"_ Celebi mocked eyebrow raised. _"No, I didn't. Obviously, I don't expect you to buy a truckload of roses for Dawn for delivery tomorrow. That's too much to expect of you."_ Paul's growl dripped with annoyance as Celebi continued, _"However, while you have shown your wife that you're willing to take vacation time for holidays and attend events that are important to her, you have yet to prove how much you truly love her.'_

'Bullshit,' Paul snarled eyes burning. 'I had to give up my sanity to deal with idiots like Ketchum, I was accosted by a six-year old brat multiple times and was manipulated into giving up my food, all in less than twelve hours!' Celebi didn't look impressed.

_"I'm sorry, did you say something?"_ Paul's eyes flashed before Celebi sighed and stated, _"To you, Andreas, that may be enough to save your wife, but in reality, those actions were geared towards satisfying yourself that you were making Dawn happy. Right?"_ Paul hesitated but then agreed. Celebi nodded in satisfaction and continued, _"Listen. Why not try asking Dawn what she wants to do?"_

Paul stiffly nodded in agreement after a moment, eyes narrowed in thought. 'Let her choose what to do? With my luck, she'll choose something I hate… but, is it worth it? Is _**she**_worth it?' Paul looked back at the mansion, his mind's eye imagining his wife burrowed underneath the covers, nose wrinkled at something in her dream, hands tucked around her or underneath the pillow. 'She's worth it.'

Celebi, hearing this last thought nodded in satisfaction but then narrowed his eyes upon hearing a mental command from his boss. _'Damn. Arceus, why didn't you tell me earlier?'_ Upon hearing no response (not that'd expected one) Celebi sighed and wondered if he could escape as soon as he delivered the news.

_"One last thing," _Celebi began drawing Paul's attention back to him. _"Tomorrow is indeed your last day, but,"_ Celebi paused, trying to put what he needed to say into the correct words, _"but, there is one condition that I wasn't aware of when I offered you this bargain."_

'Condition? What _condition?_' Paul demanded eyes flashing. Stalking closer, he made as if to grab the disguised-Celebi's clothes but remembered that he would then be physically disrespecting the one Pokémon who'd given him the chance to save his wife in the first place.

_"Um, you see,"_ Celebi was not pleased that he had to say this. He just knew that it was going to end badly. _"Dialga and Arceus have both told me that Destiny cannot be changed."_

Paul got a bad feeling in his gut and, having been one to trust his gut instinct in the past on life-changing issues did so again. 'What, what do you mean?'

Celebi sighed, eyes closing for a moment before opening them again. _"What I mean is that no matter what happens, well, Dawn will die."_

Paul didn't answer for a moment, head lowered and bangs covering his eyes. When his head came up, Celebi winced. Yeah, he was pissed. 'What. the. Hell? You told me that I would be able to save her, not realize just how damn much she means to me and then let her die again!'

_"I know. I'm sorry,"_ Celebi abruptly stopped, tilting his head as if hearing something. A smile flickered on his face before vanishing; Paul caught it and his hopes began to slowly rise.

_"Are you sure?"_ Celebi whispered and after another moment, the Pokémon turned to an anxious Paul. _"Change of plans. Arceus has heard your words and plea, and has decided to give you one shot, and one shot only, to change Destiny. He talked to Dialga and through some quick talking managed to get his agreement."_

'Meaning…'

_"Meaning, Andreas, that you'll have until midnight tomorrow to discover the one surefire method, or gift, if you will, to prove to Dawn that you truly love her. If you manage to find this gift, then Dialga promises to let Dawn live."_

Paul digested this for a minute and, wanting to make sure that it was true looked Celebi in the eye and asked, '… Do you promise?'

Celebi observed the desperation in Paul's voice, the haunted eyes and knew, somehow, that the next day wasn't going to be ordinary. _"Promise."_


	4. Day Three

"…": Characters talking

'…': Characters thinking to themselves

(…): Extra facts about the story/inner thoughts

**A/N: **So, yeah. I am so sorry that this ended up being a _very _long and dragged out Christmas fic. Real life got in the way and I was forced to put this on the backburner until I could get back to it. On that note, rather than divide this into a smaller chapter and very short epilogue, I combined the two as an apology for not updating this soon enough for any of you loyal or interested enough to keep a lookout for an update. I hope you enjoy, and your questions on Paul saving Dawn will be answered here.

**Chapter 4: _Day Three_**

_**Oak Laboratory, Pallet Town, Kanto Region, 24 December 2010, 7:30 AM**_

The next morning, various people took turns in the kitchen cooking breakfast, which ranged from cereal (the only thing Ash could make without risk to the stove), to pancakes (Brock's specialty) to breakfast burritos (a family recipe from Anabel's grandfather); all agreed that the food was delicious. Paul and Dawn agreed with their friends, though the former kept the compliments to himself, as his eyes were subtly trained on the door, waiting for the inevitable screams from the bedroom where Barry and Angie were sleeping. As if on cue, an ear-splitting screech sounded from said bedroom, followed by a series of bangs and a string of loud curses that had Misty covering Chris' ears so that he didn't hear them. Ash and Dawn smirked at each other across the table, and Anabel's eyes caught this movement; the suspicions began to pile up.

"_Pervert_!" came the final cry and an uncoordinated (and pajama-clad) Barry stumbled into the kitchen, backwards. He tripped over his feet and landed on his back, groaning as his hangover set in with a vengeance. Clutching his head, he looked up and grimaced at the bright lights.

"Too damn bright," he muttered shading his eyes. Blinking a few times, he could just make out his best friend, who was holding a glass of water and some aspirin. "Dawn… why are there three of you?"

"He's totally wasted," Forrest remarked, amused. The Pewter City Gym Leader was nursing an extra-strong mug of black coffee, knowing that in order for him to function properly he had to have a decent amount of caffeine in his system.

"No, really?" Paul remarked sarcastically, sparing his partner an amused glance. Barry, catching the hidden insult looked as if he was going to leap up and attempt to strangle the other man, but then remembered his monstrous hangover.

"Barry, take these and you'll feel better soon," Dawn soothed beckoning Paul over to help. Sighing in resignation, the G-Man walked over and dumped the blonde-haired man into a chair that Gary brought over. Then, after he had taken the aspirin and gulped down the glass of water, Brock handed him a mug of coffee, which Barry began gulping, not caring about the scalding his tongue was sure to have.

"What happened?" Misty inquired having deemed it safe to uncover Chris' ears. The six-year old scowled at his mother for preventing him from learning what was going on before returning to the plate of pancakes in front of him.

"'Kay, so I woke up in a bed," Barry began, glaring at a smirking Ash and Paul (who actually agreed on the ridiculousness of the statement) before continuing, "and I wasn't alone."

"Then again…" Misty muttered covering Chris' ears again. Gary, catching sight of his wife's actions sighed and held up a hand to pause Barry's story. Moving quickly, he whispered something to Delia Ketchum and, smiling in relief motioned for Chris to leave with her. Pouting, the orange-haired six-year old tried to hold out but one look from his mother changed his mind. Stuffing the last of his food into his mouth, Chris hopped off his seat and trotted after Delia, who closed the kitchen door after her.

"Continue." The Oaks were as curious as everyone else; they just didn't want their son hearing anything inappropriate. Barry slowly nodded, not wanting to do anything that would aggravate his headache.

"Anyway, I could have sworn that I fell asleep on the couch, but when I woke up I was in a bed, uh," he paused, a dull blush slowly creeping up his neck. "and I was, uh, with someone."

"Are you sure you want to tell this to everyone here?" Drew Rhosyn pointed out from his position of leaning against a counter. Personally, he was only interested in knowing who the blonde-haired G-Man had woken up next to, nothing more.

"Nothing happened!" Barry exclaimed pointing a finger at the chartreuse-haired Coordinator. "Stop saying crap like that or I'm gonna have to fine you!"

"Uh…"

"Something had to have happened," came a new voice and the gathering of friends looked to the door to see a pissed-off (and fully dressed) Angie Robinson, dark golden eyes glaring at the Twinleaf Town native. "We were practically undressed and in one bed; something _had_ to have happened!"

"I swear to Palkia that nothing happened!" Barry protested launching himself to his feet – deftly ignoring his headache – and getting into Angie's face. As the two adults argued, the rest of the group looked at each other and struggled to contain their laughter. It figured that Barry'd get himself into trouble of some sort; this was just too perfect. Paul and Ash shared another smirk before Anabel pulled her fiancé into a conversation that Paul suspected was, in some way, related to Ketchum's involvement in the prank. The Frontier Brain was too damn smart.

Dawn, meanwhile, was giggling with May Maple about the ridiculousness of the situation and debating whether or not something had actually happened, or if Barry and Angie were putting on a show for their audience. It wasn't unheard of for the amber-eyed man to want to be the center of attention; yet, for him to go to this length… well, Dawn knew that May was curious about why Barry would go this far to get noticed. Dawn, however, knew the truth, and was having too much fun covering her tracks.

Finally, the argument ended when Anabel stepped in and told the two to stop acting like six-year olds. This, of course, got the two adults in alliance against the Frontier Brain, but after another minute of arguing they suddenly stopped and began ignoring each other, a typical method used by Barry when he felt that the situation had changed so that it was beneath him. It was thought that Angie was just sick of being accused of acting like an immature kid.

Ash and Paul smirked at the still-upset Barry, who eventually caught sight of the twin smirks and turned bright red. Tearing through the last of his breakfast, the blonde-haired G-Man forcibly grabbed the two smirking men and dragged them outside, hissing insults underneath his breath. Ash and Paul decided to follow their friend peacefully in order to trick him into letting his guard down. Luckily, it worked as they both escaped and while Ash led the Sinnoh native on a wild goose chase around the various Pokémon habitats for a good hour and a half, Paul snuck away and grabbed Dawn away from an increasingly suspicious May and knowing Drew, determination flashing through his eyes.

"That was fun," Dawn commented after a few moments, the couple having found the relatively empty den down two hallways, right two times, left once and through an archway. Flinging herself onto the chocolate-brown couch (Misty had already given her permission for the guests to use any of the rooms on the first floor without asking; well, as long as the doors were kept open), Dawn grinned at her husband, who was unusually pensive. "What's up?"

Paul didn't answer immediately, his view caught by a fluttering snowflake that hit the glass windowpane and melted out of existence. When Dawn repeated her question he turned to her and replied, "I have a question for you."

"Shoot then!" Dawn chirped eyes glittering. Paul inwardly winced; not the exact word he would've used.

"What do you want to do today?" He smirked at the dumbfounded look on his wife's face, her jaw dropping open in disbelief.

"… What?"

"I said," Paul repeated enjoying this immensely. "What do you want to do today?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Paul shrugged. "Because." Inwardly, Paul knew that he should have told her how much he cared for her, that he wanted to just spend time with her because she was important to him… but he didn't. Dawn was silent for a moment, contemplating just how exactly she was going to respond to this question.

"Hmm… well," she began finger on her chin in her usual thinking position. Paul's eyes never left her, wanting to savor how she looked, burn her image into his mind, and no matter what he wanted to remember how she was everything he wanted, and how much he wanted to protect her…

"Did you hear me?" Dawn repeated for the third time, worried now. 'Since when does Paul not pay attention to anything that's going on around him? Actually, come to think of it, he's been like this for the past few days, since he came back from that mission in Eterna…'

"Hn," Paul grunted in reply and Dawn sighed, knowing that he had not, in fact, heard her

"I said," she repeated slowly getting to her feet and moving closer to Paul. "I want to spend the day with you." With that, she stood up on her toes and, placing her hands on Paul's face brought it down for her to kiss. Smirking, Paul returned it and, grabbing one of her hands with his kept it pressed against his cheek, enjoying the action.

A few moments later, the couple broke apart to breathe and, giggling, Dawn grabbed Paul's hand after a moment and pulled him out the door, running back to then now deserted kitchen (apparently, the chase between Barry and Ash was still ongoing, and the others had decided to take sides in the competition; Paul didn't care one way or another what Ketchum was up to now that the prank had been played on his partner).

"What now?" Paul asked mentally readying himself for something that he'd hate. Yet again, however, he was surprised at Dawn's response (he'd been beyond shocked to hear that she just wished to spend time with him, though the ensuing kiss had masked the shock behind other emotions) when she shook her head negatively while grabbing a box of saltine crackers and some cheese from the fridge. Then, jotting down a quick note that she left on the kitchen counter she motioned for Paul to follow her, which he did in time to catch his jacket in one hand, scarf in the other (the weatherman had been dead wrong when he predicted a warm Christmas Eve; the temperature was now at freezing and predicted to drop further).

"Where are we going?" Paul asked a tad impatient. 'Be patient,' his mind told him even as he struggled to keep his temper reigned in, 'This is _her_ time, not yours. Be patient.'

"You'll see," Dawn shot back as she tightened her scarf around her neck and dragged Paul out after her. The blunette was careful to avoid their large group of friends, who had somehow gotten involved in a miniature tournament. As Ketchum and Oak called out their attacks Paul's free hand moved to finger his Torterra's Pokéball, but withdrew almost immediately.

'Idiot. Do you want to save her or not?' His eyes narrowed as he kept pace with his excited wife. 'This is _her_ day, not yours. Let her decide and in doing so I'll show her that I care for her.' He mentally winced at the last thought. 'Since when did I become a poet?'

About twenty minutes later, the two arrived at Dawn's intended destination: a small lake that was far from the miniature Pokémon tournament, a few Spheal and Seel floating on the water's surface. Looking around, Dawn grinned and motioned for Paul to follow her, which he did without much urging. Finding a spot on the faintly brown grass (snow was rare in Kanto, hence the idea that grass was brown was kind of foreign to many natives of the region), Dawn immediately made herself comfortable and, after a moment's hesitation Paul followed suit.

"So, what are we doing out here?" Paul asked leaning back on his arms. Dawn didn't respond for a moment content to toss a cracker into her mouth then throw the next one into the lake as a Magikarp swam by and nabbed it. "Dawn?"

"As I said earlier, I just want to spend time with you," Dawn replied absently tossing another cracker at the self-same Magikarp, an unusually aggressive variant of his species as he singlehandedly held off a small school of Spheal from encroaching on his territory.

Paul raised an eyebrow, not believing the statement for a minute. He knew her too well. "Bull. Something's eating at you." Dawn's raised eyebrow had him smirking. "Come on, Blue." The smirk widened at the glower he received for his use of the hated nickname he'd christened her with after two months of dating.

"Don't call me that," Dawn muttered popping another cracker into her mouth. Paul snatched one as well as he waited for his wife to gather her thoughts together. 'I can be patient.'

"Paul, if I ask you something, can I trust that you're telling the truth?" Dawn asked throwing the plum-haired man for a loop.

"Duh," was the monochromatic reply, an eyebrow arched, as if to say, 'Why are you asking me this?'

"I'm asking," Dawn shot back interpreting the physical gesture correctly, "because you've been acting so weird since you got back from your mission in Eterna City." She paused noting the slight widening of Paul's eyes. 'Gotcha.'

He grunted and replied, "You're imagining things."

"Am I?" Dawn moved closer so that she was sitting right next to Paul her eyes boring into his. "You _willingly_ bought me breakfast, lunch and dinner on the day of the Hearthome Contest when you tend to want to cook and save money."

"So what? I didn't want to deal with burnt toast again," Paul declared narrowing his eyes.

"Lie." Dawn frowned before continuing, "Seriously, you even came to one of my contests without me forcing you to; that's never happened before."

"Like I told you, I felt guilty for missing some major holidays." Paul was irritated that she doubted his words from two days previous. Arceus above, what would it take for her to stop questioning him?

"Why is it that I don't believe you?" Dawn asked not expecting an answer; obligingly, Paul didn't give one. "You missed the anniversary of Veilstone City's founding last year; what was so different now?"

'I don't know, maybe the fact that I'm actually from the future where _you die_ and I'm determined to prevent that no matter what!' Paul was very sarcastic at this point internally, becoming more and more fed up with every moment that passed in which he felt he was making no progress proving to Dawn that he loved her.

"Then," the blunette continued fingering a chipped cracker which she eventually threw into the lake, the Magikarp grabbing it without pause, "then, there was the party yesterday. I know that you had to come because your boss demanded it instead of you having to work over Christmas –"

"Didn't you want me home for Christmas?" Paul inquired a tad amused at his wife's rambling. He smirked at the half-hearted punch that landed on his shoulder.

"Sh- Shut up!" Dawn commanded having moved a few feet away from Paul so that she wouldn't fall prey to her husband's charms (the man could be persuasive when he wanted to be… and that was what made him dangerous). Taking a breath, she continued, "Paul, you willingly put up with Gary and Misty's kid, you were civil to pretty much everyone, hell, you and _Ash_ participated in a prank. Paul, you've never done that before and, honestly, I'm kind of worried."

"I'm fine," Paul hissed glaring. "So what if I've been acting a bit different? It's not like I'm under mind control or something."

"Yeah?" Dawn suddenly chirped eyes narrowed playfully at him. "Then, does that mean that you've been brainwashed into this really new person?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Troublesome, troublesome Blue." Moving quickly, he grasped Dawn's chin and tilted her head up for a kiss, reveling in the taste of her soft, soft lips against his. Moving slowly, he peppered kisses along her throat, moving her scarf for better access. As he did so, his mind whirled.

'Should I tell her? What if she thinks I'm bizarre?' His mind made no sense, as half of it told him to return her obvious feelings and tell her just how dam n much he loved her.. .but the other half continuously called him a wuss for even thinking about the second path, which was to not say anything at all. Pausing in his ministrations, Paul glanced up at Dawn, whose eyes were closed, a smile spread across her face. 'Screw it. There is no way in hell that I'm ruining this now.'

After a moment, Dawn's eyes popped open and she pulled away, frowning. "Stop that! I'm trying to have a serious conversation here with you and you're not cooperating." Paul merely smirked, not concerned in the least.

"And then, then," Dawn waved a hand trying to use the correct words, "today you ask me what I want to do for the day." She glared at Paul and continued, "That is something you never asked me, or if you had it was always something like, 'You choose something then I'll figure out what we're going to do next'. What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Paul snapped abruptly pulling Dawn into a hug, burying his face in her hair. "I, I just," he whispered hoping and praying to Arceus that Dawn wouldn't hear him, "I just don't want to lose you."

Dawn didn't do anything for a moment, too much in shock. After a few minutes, though, she wriggled a bit, managing to free herself enough to look into Paul's eyes. She had, of course, heard everything that had been muttered into her hair and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Sure, she knew that Paul loved her (hell, they wouldn't even be married if he didn't love her), but he wasn't overly verbal about it. He tended to show his affection more than verbally stating it. It was for this exact reason that she found his muttered declaration of love so out of character for him.

"You won't lose me," Dawn whispered grasping Paul's face and bringing his head down for a gentle kiss. "Not ever." As the two embraced, Paul could only think and hope that he'd be able to save his wife from the clutch of death, and prayed that her whispered declaration was true.

**The Jade Dragon, _Viridian City, Kanto__ Region, 24 December 2010, 11:00 PM_**

As the group of friends left _The Jade Dragon_ late that night, spirits were high. It had been uniformly and unanimously determined to eat out that night rather than attempt to cook, hence the fairly expensive dinner that had been purchased, with each paying their due. The Christmas Eve celebration had gone on longer than expected; so long, in fact, that the owners had had to kick the group out, despite the fact that the large number of rather famous people had attracted more customers than the restaurant had seen in years. Young Chris Oak was currently snuggled against his father's shoulder, having fallen asleep hours earlier. When asked why he hadn't been left at home earlier, Misty had shrugged and said that as much as she hated to keep the boy out this late, she hadn't been able to get a babysitter on such short notice.

Dawn was tucked underneath her husband's arm, which was casually draped across her shoulders. Paul was scowling as usual, eyes daring anyone to comment on his action. Ash and Anabel were chatting merrily; well, Anabel was excited about her future wedding and Ash the next challenge or frontier to possibly explore. There were occasional agreements between the two on something, and for Ash those usually involved something related to his upcoming nuptials.

"So, you two, any thought about having kids?" Brock asked, a smirk gracing his face. "Ow." Duplica stuck her nose up at her husband's non-tactful remark before trotting up to talk with Misty, who smirked at her friend. "He's such an idiot."

"That's why you love him," Misty helpfully pointed out before dissolving into giggles at the wounded look on the Pewter City native's face. Duplica glanced back before rolling her eyes and grinning as the Pokémon Breeder apologized with a kiss. Paul turned away, not one hundred percent comfortable with the very public display of affection. Dawn giggled at the action before moving closer to her husband, whom she noticed had stilled.

"What's wrong?" she asked causing the rest of the group to halt. Paul didn't reply as his eyes were fixed ahead, as if he'd heard something. "Paul?"

"Paul? What's wrong?" Barry asked removing his arm from around Angie's shoulder (the two had discovered that they had much in common during the day between various arguments and plots to further take revenge on Ash and Paul).

The G-Man didn't reply for a moment, but then it wasn't needed. A cacophony of screeching and yelling grew louder until two specks were seen in the distance. Squinting, Barry was able to make out what appeared to be two cars, both fishtailing and running into various sidewalk items, the drivers and passengers all yelling insults at the other.

"I think we need to move," Drew stated drawing attention to himself. Emerald eyes narrowed as he continued, "Idiots have no clue where they are, and they're a danger." A loud "clang" drew the group's attention as one of the cars had run into a lamppost, smoke gently curling from the engine. The driver and passenger opened the door and staggered out, both stumbling a few feet away before collapsing onto the pavement.

"Where's the other car?" May asked, panicking. As if to answer her, another crash sounded and as it turned out the second car had mowed down a mailbox. No smoke emanated from the car, but while the passenger was out cold, the driver wasn't as woozy as he seemed. Dismounting, the "click" of a mechanical device sounded, followed by some grunting. Paul's gut screamed for him to run.

"Shit! He's got a gun," he muttered and, turning shouted, "Run! He's got a gun!" The group instantly scattered, finding refuge in alleys and behind dumpsters. Paul, Barry and Ash, as certified G-Men, were keen on hiding themselves last in order to protect everyone else, which was done with an efficiency expected of the elite taskforce. The partners nodded and raced towards the gunman, who, upon hearing the warning had ducked behind his car, the edge of a gun seen peeking above the hood.

"Duck!" The men dove as a stream of bullets whizzed by, not caring why the guy was shooting randomly in Viridian City, but concerned about protecting everyone else.

"_Thundershock_!" came a cry and a stream of bright electricity flew towards the gunman, who tossed up a ball that absorbed the shock. "Damn, he's onto us."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Paul muttered cursing himself for leaving Weavile's Pokéball back at the lab. All he had with him was Torterra and… wait. "Pidgeot!" With a cry, Paul's Pidgeot emerged and, without a word sped towards the gunman, only to suddenly meet a Swellow mid-air, crying out as he fell a few feet to a wild _Steel Wing_ attack.

"Shit. Use _Screech_!" Normally, Paul wouldn't resort to such elementary tactics, but this was a situation that required delicacy. Granted, the high-pitch frequency ran the chance of harming the assailant… oh well. No pain, no gain.

Soon, Barry's Staraptor, Pikachu on his back flew up to join the battle and within minutes the enemy Swellow fell to the pavement. The gunman left the wounded bird in favor of attempting to shoot the bothersome pests out of the sky, only to fluently curse as an immaculately aimed _Thundershock_ knocked the metal out of his hand. Diving, Pidgeot managed to grab it with his talons before the alarmed man could reach for it. Practically smirking, the avian deposited the gun into his trainer's hands who unloaded the bullets and tossed the rifle into a nearby dumpster, his smirk matching that of his predatory Pokémon.

"By order of the G-Men, you are under arrest for disturbing the peace," Ash declared moving so that he stood at the front of the trio of protectors. The man laughed at the declaration; Ash narrowed his eyes.

"No way in hell!" the man shouted before jumping into the truck and gunning the engine. Squealing, his tires spun on the pavement before the truck shot backwards, ramming into yet another mailbox (the postal service was going to be in tears the next day) before speeding towards the three G-Men. The three men leapt to the side, landing roughly on the pavement as the truck and the crazy-as-hell driver/gunman drove off down the street, tires screeching. The wounded Swellow was quickly subdued by Staraptor and Pikachu, the former taking a standing position over him.

"License plate number?" Ash asked all seriousness and none of his regular cheerfulness. As Barry reported the number, the rest of the group, beyond shaken slowly walked out into the street; well, Anabel and Dawn flew into their respective partners' arms.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" Dawn exclaimed looking at Paul's scrapped cheek. Her heart had been pounding, anxiety and adrenaline running through her as she watched her husband face death in the eye, no fear or hesitation in his eyes.

"I'm fine," Paul responded running a (faintly) shaking hand through his wife's navy-blue hair, unable to believe how close he'd come to losing her. 'My god, if she hadn't run, if I hadn't heard the asshole coming… I could have lost her.'

Ash was reassuring a shaken Anabel while Angie was interrogating Barry as to what exactly a G-Man did, and if female members were also called "G-Men"; obviously, she was interested in joining if the nature of her questions were any indication. Barry called for the on-shift policeman of the city's taskforce to come and retrieve the wounded Swellow, and after the avian was loaded into the sidecar of a motorcycle, the three G-men gave their stories to the officer. After said officer had driven away, Pikachu returned to his perch on Ash's shoulders and Staraptor to his ball; Pidgeot decided to stretch his wings and hovered above.

Minutes later, the entire group moved to continue their journey back to the garage where they'd parked their set of cars earlier (there had been no room in the restaurant's parking lot earlier due to its use as a dumping ground for last-minute shopper's vehicles of transportation). As they did so, Paul again draped his arm around Dawn's shoulders, pulling her closer than he usually did in public (if at all), Pidgeot soaring overhead.

"That was cool!" Chris was once again hyper, the catnap having restored much of his energy, now in use to talk to his new heroes. Misty rolled her eyes and ruffled her son's hair, fielding questions that the three G-Men didn't hear while Gary carried the six-year old on his shoulders, gently reminding him that as soon as they got home he had to go to sleep so that Santa would come and leave the annual donation of gifts.

As the parking garage came into view, Paul began to feel as if the night (and his plan to save Dawn) had gone well. 'This is it.' He surreptitiously checked his watch a smirk overtaking his face at the thought that midnight was fast approaching. 'Ten minutes and counting. Once it hits midnight, Dawn's safe.'

Of course, Dialga, Master of Time, was a finicky Legendary at the best of times. So, it was totally understandable that when things were not going his way, he got angry. Therefore, when it seemed like Celebi and Arceus' plan to save Dawn Andreas was going to be successful, he just had to interfere somehow, hence what happened next.

Pidgeot's ears picked up a sound that caused him to turn his head to see what was going on behind him. Spotting a pair of headlights, he figured that it was a late-night taxi… then the fishtailing caught his eye. It was this that caused him to worry for the well-being of his trainer and his chosen mate. Chirping down a warning, he watched as the plum-haired man tensed and glanced behind him, eyes narrowed.

"Shit! He's coming back!" Paul's warning was quickly heeded as the group began running towards the garage as fast as their legs could carry them. As they approached the barrier, Paul glanced behind him again and saw the high beams approaching quickly. As the various group members began to dodge through and under the barrier, Paul all of a sudden skidded to a stop, determination flashing through his eyes.

"Paul?" Dawn questioned stopping beside her husband. She watched as he drew Torterra's Pokéball from his pocket and maximized it. "No!"

"Move," Paul commanded gripping the ball tightly. Dawn stubbornly shook her head, withdrawing Mamoswine's Pokéball, intent on standing and fighting with her husband.

"Move!" Paul didn't want to believe what he was seeing. 'No, no, no. No! This is **not **happening. Shit, shit, sh-'

It was all in slow motion. Ash, Barry, Gary, hell, everyone was on the verge of releasing Pokémon strong enough to stop the rampaging truck before it could reach the group, or more specifically, Paul and Dawn who were still in its path. The headlights showed the scene: a gunshot rang out in the night and without warning Paul pushed Dawn out of the way, taking the shot in the gut. Dawn screamed in horror, tears falling from her eyes as her husband pushed her out of danger, out of certain death. Torterra's Pokéball fell from the Sinnoh G-Man's hand, landing next to a stunned Dawn. The truck continued towards the fallen man, the driver's eyes crazed and bloodshot. With a flash of white light, the truck's tires touched Paul's damaged body only to be pushed back by an enraged Torterra, the normally gentle and pacifist Continent Pokémon glowing bright green.

"Paul!" Dawn's scream reverberated across the city, drawing Torterra's attention once more to the plight of his trainer. A _Frenzy Plant_ devastated the four blocks on either side of _The Jade Dragon_, but the local police later reassured Lance Thorn that the G-Man's Pokémon would not be held responsible. Dawn didn't care about the ensuing damage around her; all that concerned her was her husband, who was lying bleeding on the ground, hands clenched over the penetration point of the bullet in an effort to stifle the amount of blood.

"D- Dawn?" came the whisper and Dawn's tears dripped down onto Paul's face. By this time, Ash and Barry had forcibly removed the driver from the now wrecked truck and placed him under arrest, Torterra's _Vine Whip_ substituting for handcuffs.

"Y- you, you okay?" The tears came faster now, concerning the man who had just taken a gut wound to save her.

"Ye- yeah, no, are you okay?" Dawn sobbed hair falling around Paul's face as she leant closer to hear his whispers. "Why did you do that? I can protect myself!"

"Duh," Paul muttered drawing a short and strangled laugh from his wife. "Ha- had to save you."

"Why?"

"Lo- lo, lo-," Paul struggled to state, plain and simple, the words that he didn't say often enough, the words that he had really only said a handful of times, the three simple words that would prove, once and for all, that he loved his wife. "I love you." His eyes closed and his breathing began to slow down, enough so that Gary gently pushed Dawn out of the way and began CPR, being careful not to further injure the man's wound.

"Call for a bus!" Gary demanded sweater sleeves pushed up past his elbows, perspiration dripping down his face as he fought to keep the Sinnoh trainer alive. Dawn, by now, was in May's arms, sobbing her heart out as her thoughts became more and more morbid, showing her countless images of a dead husband, a dead Paul, a dead and dull life for her after Paul's death…

"He didn't need to do that," she whispered against May's shoulder, the brunette trying to offer any comfort she could. Drew had taken his sports coat and propped it under Paul's head, hoping that it would bring him some comfort. Brock was keeping track of Paul's pulse, Duplica's Ditto acting as a stethoscope to help him and Tracey was doing the same, keeping an eye on the man's breathing.

"Dawn, he saved you," Misty declared placing a hand on the blunette's shoulder, Melody Sketchit doing the same, just with the Coordinator's other shoulder. Chris, tugging on Dawn's peacoat asked the same question, tears dripping down his face.

"He'll be fine. I promise." Dawn's eyes looked over to the form of her husband, whose eyes were still closed. 'Arceus, I wish that I could keep that promise to Chris…'

_**Viridian City General, Viridian City, Kanto Region, 25 December 2010, 2:00 AM**_

The waiting room outside of the surgery wing at Viridian City General was packed with the rather large group of friends, all of whom had been checked for injuries and cleared. Dawn was a wreck, her nerves and emotions frayed beyond all recognition. Chris had taken refuge on the blunette's lap and was now sleeping, his parents curled up together in a chair next to Dawn's. Next to the Oaks sat Brock and Duplica, the latter attempting to keep the mood slightly cheery with her Ditto and their impersonation tricks. Ash and Anabel were also sitting down, but the latter was attempting to reign in the anxiety of her fiancé, who was on the verge of barging into the operating room to find out what his friend's condition was. Barry was worse; his foot was not still and was bouncing every which way; Angie's hand on his arm did nothing to calm the hyper man, whose hand was tangled in his hair.

"News?" May asked hopefully as Drew came around the corner from the nurse's station. Her head fell at the remorseful face of her boyfriend.

"None." He sighed, pinching his nose before turning to Dawn and adding, "They'll let us know as soon as possible."

"Sure," Dawn whispered checking her cell phone for the first time in hours. Upon seeing about ten texts from Maylene, five from Kenny and two from Zoey, she weakly smiled and set about answering them, pleased that she had something to do to keep her mind off her husband, who was in surgery to remove the bullet from his stomach.

Minutes later, a scrub-clad doctor emerged through a pair of swinging doors, hands bare of the surgical gloves. "Is Dawn Andreas here?"

"Here!" A groggy Misty reached over and pulled Chris onto her lap, Gary having stood up at the doctor's entrance. Jumping to her feet, Dawn ran over and stopped in front of the doctor, hands folded nervously in front of her.

The doctor's grim expression broke out into a smile. "He's fine. Groggy, disoriented and weak, but fine." Amid the relieved sighs that broke out he continued, "He's asking for you."

"Which way?"

Soon enough, Dawn and Paul were alone in the hospital room and before a minute had passed since her entrance Dawn was at his side, eyes tearing up at the sight of her normally strong husband so, so pale.

"Paul, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered placing a kiss on his cheek. Paul's eyes opened and he drunk in the sight of his wife, who was _alive_ and _safe_, and, and, she was just so _damn_ beautiful…

"Yeah," he whispered smirking in spite of himself. "I'm fine. So are you." He reached up and fingered a loose strand of dark hair, his mind somehow placing it on the head of the small child he'd seen in his mind's eye the previous day, complete with his eyes and her nose.

"You saved me," Dawn continued smiling as Paul continued to play with her hair, not in a rush to interrupt his suddenly playful nature.

"'Course I did," he muttered eyes narrowing. "You're mine." The possessive didn't make Dawn feel anything but elation. He **did** care, he did care, he… he loved her.

"Yeah," she whispered back pressing a gentle kiss to his mouth, "I'm yours."

As the two talked some more, wanting time alone before their friends interrupted, Celebi materialized in a corner of the room. Paul's eye caught the Time Travel Pokémon who smiled and nodded, reassuring Paul that his mission had been successful and, yes, Arceus was going to let Dawn live.

As the Legendary vanished without a sound, Paul looked into his wife's eyes and smiled a genuine smile. 'I did it. I saved Dawn's life in three days. I did it.'

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

_**Andreas Residence, Veilstone City, Sinnoh Region, 25 December 2012, 2:00 PM**_

Two years later, Dawn opened the door at the sound of her doorbell and welcomed another group of friends. Taking coats and scarves, she carried them into her bedroom and dropped them onto the bed with the other fifty or so coats and scarves. Reemerging into the main part of the house (a bigger investment than her previous home, complete with two extra bedrooms, another bathroom and a bigger kitchen and living room), she smiled as she ran into Maylene, the Gym Leader hanging onto her husband Aaron's arm, the Elite Four member greeting the hostess warmly as well.

"Nice digs," he offered smiling as he took a glass of wine from Reggie, the older Andreas brother reveling in his role as pseudo-host.

"Paul chose the house," Reggie commented smirking at the dumbfounded look he received in return.

As Dawn wondered towards the back patio, sure that her husband was out there training, she smiled at the gathering of friends and family, admiring how well everyone got on. Chris Oak was attempting to teach his sister Trini how to walk, the cinnamon-haired girl stumbling every other step. His parents nodded in Dawn's direction as she passed them. Kenny and Zoey's four-year old daughter ran by, followed by Bill and May (Oak) Ricerca's six-year old son. Drew and May's one-year old son was content to be held by his uncle, Max's awkward hold sending Harley and Soledad Davidson into fits of laughter. Forrest was attempting to show off to Molly Hale, who nodded politely while eyeing Max; Brock watched as his brother failed to woo the lovely blonde-haired trainer. Tracey and Melody were huddled together in a corner, discussing something important if their looks were anything to go by while Ash and Anabel were showing off their honeymoon pictures to an interested Angie Robinson (the wedding had been delayed another six months due to issues with the G-Men and Ash needing to travel to the Sevii Islands on business). They had only returned a month and a half ago but had been busy with Ash finally conceding to becoming a Frontier Brain, taking up Scott's offer after years of consideration.

"There you are!" Dawn softly exclaimed interrupting Barry and Paul's conversation as she walked out onto the patio deck. Paul had recovered 100% from his injuries and had started his job again two months after that fateful Christmas Eve, though he and Barry hadn't taken any major missions until June of that year due to a lack of criminal activity. Barry, sensing that his best friend wished to talk to his partner chirped a farewell and darted back inside, most likely on the prowl for Angie, with whom he was in an on-again and off-again relationship.

"What's up?" Paul asked nonchalantly sipping his beer. The G-Man had begun training to re-challenge Cynthia of the Sinnoh League on the chance that he'd be successful in beating her. He wanted something else to do besides the G-Men, and something to fall back on if, no, _when_ he quit said group.

"I wanted to give you your gift early," Dawn declared pulling a thin, wrapped present out from an inside pocket of her jean jacket. Smirking, Paul took the present and unwrapped it, the paper falling to the deck. A long, thin box was revealed and, opening it the man's breath caught.

"You, you're serious?" Dawn nodded suddenly shy as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I, uh, found out today, actually." She laughed nervously. "Was told that I should have known before now, but, well,"

"Doesn't matter," Paul interrupted gruffly voice not matching his eyes, the windows to his soul. "All that matters is that you're sure."

"110%," Dawn chirped grinning when Paul wrapped her in a hug, his head resting on hers. "So, you're okay with this?" Her husband chuckled.

"Dawn, I honestly couldn't be happier." Kissing her, Paul couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if he hadn't walked into that locksmith shop two years ago in another life…

'No. I won't tempt Fate. I have Dawn, I have her love, I have the future. That's all I need, and I won't take it for granted. Not when I have so much, so much to lose.'

_"Bravo,"_ a voice echoed in Paul's mind. _"Bravo indeed."_


End file.
